Julio Jones needs the ball more on third downs

Julio Jones needs the ball more on third downs

Despite another good statistical year from Julio Jones, the Falcons’ superstar wide receiver wasn’t as dominant as many felt he should’ve been on third downs and in the red zone in 2017

In a fantasy football analysis piece from Pro Football Focus looking at the league’s top third-down receivers last season, Jones was targeted only three percent more on third downs than fellow Atlanta receiver Mohamed Sanu.

The Atlanta Falcons are the only team that had two receivers see at least 20 percent of a team’s third-down targets in Julio Jones (26 percent) and Mohamed Sanu (23 percent). Why Atlanta felt the need to go to Sanu so often on third down makes little sense.

Defenses typically try and take away your best weapon, so it’s not as egregious as the stats make it sound.

And yet, as Tyler Loechner explains, it would seem that a talent like Jones should be getting the ball more in these third-down situations when looking at his level of production with the ball in his hands.